Bob Mackenzie – Background

BM: This is the 18th of March 2014.

Bob explains the origin of the Kindertransport Movement

The British Parliament was approached by the ‘Movement for the Care of Children of Germany’ to hasten the travel permits. The movement promised to fund the whole of the operation and stated that they would not be a drain on the public purse. The funds were to be found to guarantee £50.00 (roughly £1000.00 in today’s money) for every child brought to this country by Kindertransport. By the time the war started in September ’39 it is estimated that 10,000 children were brought to safety in this country. Therefore a very generous British public donated the sum of £500,000.00, equivalent to approximately £10, 000 000.00 in today’s money. Considering that the average wage at that time was under £3.00 per week, this was a truly momentous fundraising exercise.

Now you can understand why I title this talk – ‘Kinder – Britain’s Generosity’. Many of the children who came over on the Kindertransport have a story to tell and I tell the story of one such child, me. It’s the story I know best.